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Superfunds April 2016
RETAIL FUNDS SEE GROWTH IN DECEMBER QUARTER
Total retail funds under management (FUM) for the 2015
calendar year was up 7.5 per cent to $750 billion in a year of
“solid consolidation”, according to researcher Plan For Life.
“Half this growth was as a result of positive, but at times
rather jittery, investment earnings on underlying markets that are
still underpinned by unprecedented low interest rates,” it said.
“While subsequently markets then turned south in early
2016, they have since recovered indicating just how uncertain
investment conditions are at present.”
Macquarie saw the largest increase in retail FUM of 38.5
per cent, followed by AMP (6.3 per cent), BT (6.2 per cent),
Commonwealth/Colonial (5.7 per cent), Perpetual (4.8 per cent)
and Mercer (3.8 per cent)—according to the research.
SUPERSTREAM SEES 70% OF MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS
Over 70 per cent of members’ superannuation contributions
to APRA-regulated funds are being sent through SuperStream,
according to ATO figures. The new electronic payment standard
saw 22.8 million contribution transactions in the September
2015 quarter alone.
The ATO research also found that over 60 per cent of
employers surveyed were aware of SuperStream, with 69 per
cent of large employers, 64 per cent of medium employers and
17 per cent of small employers reporting being “well advanced”
in their implementation of the system. The employers who had
implemented SuperStream and completed one or more payments
cycles reported a roughly 70 per cent reduction in the average
time taken to complete superannuation contribution transactions.
WOMEN-LED FUNDS PERFORM WELL
Rainmaker SelectingSuper research
has found that super funds run by
women, or where there is a strong
female influence on the trustee
board or senior management have
outperformed male-dominated
funds. The pilot study completed
by the research group suggests
that while there are still too few women playing leading roles
in super funds, super funds with a high proportion of women
in their leadership teams are more likely to achieve higher
investment returns.
Key research findings state that compared to about half of
all super fund members being women, 37 per cent of fund
executives are women, 27 per cent of super fund trustees are
women and 15 per cent of chief executive officers (CEOs) and
deputy CEOs are women. This compares to women making up
22 per cent of ASX 200 company board directors, according to
figures from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
CHALLENGES FOR SUPER RETURNS
According to SuperRatings, super funds have faced challenging
market conditions in February, with the median balanced option
down 0.5 per cent in February. This is the fifth negative month
for the financial year so far, with the financial year-to-date return
falling to -1 .6 per cent. The results indicate that the returns will
not repeat those of the past three years, where the median
balanced option had recorded double digit returns by this stage of
the financial year.
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